The extraordinary candidacies of Pax Mangudadatu and Dr. Margarita “Ting-Ting” Cojuangco for regional governor and vice-governor of ARMM usher hope and progress to the autonomous area for Muslim Mindanao. Leaders from the professional, religious and youth sectors of Muslim Mindanao foresees a vigorous change coming to the region engendered by no-nonsense hands-on leadership of Pax and Ting-Ting.
Hope and progress are what Pax and Ting-Ting bring to the long-suffering people of Muslim Mindanao. Good governance and stable progress, as their accomplishments and achievements show, will result from their combined leadership, insha-Allah (God-willing).
The people of ARMM will be the real winners in this political gambit.
Pax Mangudadatu, born in Buluan, Maguindanao, was governor of Sultan Kudarat for nine solid years from 1998 to 2007 with splendid record. Majority of the electorate of the province of Sultan Kudarat is Christian and Pax proved his political mettle by evenhanded mass-based public service and traditional social networking.
When I (Sheikh Jamil Usman) was sent by Sultan Esmail Kiram II as head of the delegation of the Sultanate of Sulu to the enthronement of Pax Mangudadatu as Rajah sa Buwayan, I sat at the left of Rajah Pax Mangudadatu at lunchtime. Then when he saw a group of highlanders arrived, he immediately stood up to attend to the new visitors. Another highlander guest took the governor’s seat and ate the food of his plate.
No wonder Pax can charm and blend his character to the tune of the local tradition of his constituents. This Muslim son of Maguindanao is a political bonanza for the constituents of ARMM.
Dr. Margarita “Tingting” de los Reyes-Cojuangco, besides having been provincial governor of Tarlac (1992-1998) and president of Philippine Public Safety College, is a historian-anthropologist by profession and a resident of Maguindanao. She is married to Jose “Peping” Conjuangco, the brother of former President Cory Aquino and uncle of the current President Noynoy Aquino.
With such experience and wide in-depth connections and friends in both Muslim and Christian communities, Dr. Ting-Ting Cojuangco is a big plus in the social fabric and political governance of ARMM. We in ALL with utmost sincerity welcome the candidacies of Pax and Ting-Ting.